Slime-thickener



W. E. DARROW. sums THI CKENER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12, I919.

1,336,553. Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- I4 h fi. I 14 Z6 17 5 -\IL. 7 9 15 3 22 Q it [7 INVENTOR. T Vi'lionEDarrow Q mm A TTORNEY W. E. DARROW.

SLIME THICKENER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I2, I919.

1,336,553, Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 23 1N VEN TOR. 8 VlQ'lion EDarrow BY Q mm A TTORNEY WILTON E. DARROW, 0F SUTTER GREEK, CALIFORNIA.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. '13, 1926).

Application filed July 12, 1919. Serial No. 310,331.

To all w'hom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILTON E. DARRoW, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Sutter Creek, in the county of Amador and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slime-Thicken'ers; and I do declare the following to be a clear, full, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in slime thickeners and is intended as an improvement over Patent N 0. 1,156,276, granted me October 12th, 1915.v The principal object of the present invention is to provide a device which has a great area for the deposit of slime and ,which will rapidly thicken the same and ultimately deposit it all in one place from where it may be readily drawn 01f.

The slime as it comes from the.stamp mills which crush the ore is usually so diluted with water that there is only about 3 to 4% of solid matter present. Before being subjected to the cyaniding or flotation process the slime should be at least 25% solid in order to be commercially workable.

' With my improved thickener, it is practi- "cable to attain this or a higher percentage in a very short time.

Another object is to provide a means for drawing off the clear water after the slime has settled, and handle it in such a way that it may be used again, in the event that the water supply of the mine is limited.

A further object is to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposes for which it is designed.

These objects, I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of the parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

On the drawings, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in I the several views.

Figure l is an elevation in section off my improved slime thickener.

Fig. '2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fi 3 is a fragmentary section of a modi' fied orm of slime trays and scrapers.

the pipe 7 each floor 2,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the subject matter shown in Fig. 3.

eferring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the cylindrical tank.

Arranged vertically in the tank in spaced relation are a plurality of funnel shaped decks or floors 2, set at a steep angle, and each having an enlargedfopening 3 at the lower end thereof.

The bottom of the tank slopes up from the center, as at 4, to conform to the angle of the floors 2. A pipe 5 controlled by a valve 6 is positioned at the lowest point of the tank and is adapted to draw off the solid contents thereof.

Projecting into the tank centrally and from the top thereof andextending through the orifices 3 and terminating short of the bottom of the tank is a large pipe 7, around which are grouped a plurality of smaller pipes 8 secured thereto and terminating at different levels in the tank. These pipes are open ended on the bottom, and communicate at their upper ends with a hopper 9 fed by a trough or sluice 10.

The pipe 7 and the pipes 8 and hopper 9 closely are all secured together, and are removable,

being turnably mounted in suitable bearingsll positioned above the tank and being adapted to be slowly turned by any suitable power means through the medium of gearing 12. Around the upper edge of the tank 1 is a trough 13,"into which dis-. 1

pipes 14: extendcharge a plurality of stand ing downwardly on the outside of the tank and spaced a suitable distance therefrom. A sluice 15 leads from the trough 13 and is adapted to convey the discharge from the pipes 14 to any desired point. h

Each pipe. 14 is provided with pipes 16 leading therefrom into the tank 1 just under the flow through .each pipe 16 being controlled by a wire 17 therein. Each plpe also has a drip cook 18 therein, for a purpose as will appear.

Mounted on the pipe 7 are a plurality of scraper arms 13, one being adapted to lie against the upper surface of each of the floors 2 to scrape the solid matter settling thereon into scoops or cups 20 secured to the pipe 7, and positioned just behind the arm .in the direction of rotation thereof, there being an orifice 21 leading from each cup into the pipe.

In order to be able to set the arms 19 in place when assembling the device, one set of the pipes leading into one of the pipes 8 is 1 preferably set at an angle to the tank equal to-that of the floors 2, as shown at 22 in Fig. 1, and of a size suflicient for the arm for each floor to be slipped therethrough.

When using steep set floors 2, I have found that only one arm is needed for each floor, each arm being preferably positioned in staggered radial relation to the one above or below. In the modified form shown in Figs.

3 and 4, however, the floors 2 are set on a relatively slight angle to the horizon, and

hence more slime will settle thereon.

I, therefore, provide two or more arms 19 for each floor, each one being spaced somewhat from its floor and having scraper blades 23 secured thereto and set at such an angle to the arms that with the revolution of the arms the slime on the floor will be scraped toward the cups 20.

' In the operation of'the device, the slime to be thickened is delivered to the hopper 9 from the, sluice 10. It then passes down through the pipes 8 into the tank 1. The slime being in suspension in the water, then starts to settle, and while a certain amount passes immediately to the bottom, a large percentage settles on the floors 2-, when it is scraped off by the rotating arms 19 into the cups 20. From these cups it passes into the pipe 7, which delivers it to the bottom of the tank together with what has already settled, and from which point it may readily be drawn oil through the pipe 5.

With the settling of the slime, the water becomes clear and being of lesser specific gravity than the slime solution, rises in the tank. The majority of such clear water then will be confined in the peaks between the floors 2 and the tank 1, at which points the pipges 16 are positioned. 1

y testing the water through each drip cook 18, it may readily be determined from the color whether the water is sufliciently clear to be drawn off and the corresponding valve 17 opened or closed accordingly. The clear water, as before stated being lighter than the slime solution, will be forced above the level of such solution so as to cause it to readily flow into the trough 13.

Thus, from the foregoin description, it will readily be seen that have produced such a device as substantially fulfils the obx jects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this 'specificatlon sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice, such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A slime thickener including a tank, a plurality of funnel shaped fioors therein on which the slime is adapted to settle, an open ended pipe extending into the tank from the top and central thereof and terminating short pipe adapted to lie adjacent the upper sur-v face of each floor and rotatable with the pipe, and cups on the pipe just under the inner edge of the floors and adapted to receive the slime scraped from the floors thereinto,

the pipe being provided with orifices commu nicating with the cups.

3. A slime thickener including a tank, a plurality of funnel shaped floors therein on which the slime is adapted to settle, stand pipes positioned around and outside the tank, pipes leading into said stand pipes and communicating with the tank immediately under each floor, valves controlling the flow into said pipes, and drip cocks on the valves whereby the clarity of the water at any point in the tank may be ascertained.

4. A slime thickener including a tank, a plurality of funnel shaped floors therein on which the slime may settle, stand pipes positioned around the tank and closed at the bottom, pipes leading into the stand pipes from immediately under each floor, and a trough above the normal level of the liquid in the tank into which the standpipes may overflow.

- In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WILTON E. DARROW. Witnessesz' BERNARD PRIVAT, VERADINE WARNER. 

